Device for continuously feeding a web from supply rolls



Nov. 22, 1950 K. FILLMANN ETAL 2,961,181

DEVICE EOR OORTIRuOusLY REEOING A WEB FROM SUPPLY ROLLS Original Filed April l2, 1955 3 Sheets-Sheet l ng. f

Arf/f NOV 22, 1950 K. FILLMANN ETAL 2,951,181

DEVICE FOR CONTINUOUSLY FEEDING A WEB FROM SUPPLY ROLLS Original Filed April 12, 1955 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Nov. 22, 1960 K. FILLMANN Erm. 2,961,181

DEVICE FOR CONTINUOUSLY FEEDING A WEB FROM SUPPLY ROLLS Original Filed April 12, 1955 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Fig. 4

6660 57 55 sa 52385748 sa United States Patent() DEVICE FOR CONTINUOUSLY FEEDING A WEB FROM SUPPLY ROLLS Karl Fillmann and Hermann Stephan, both of Stuttgart- Bad Cannstatt, Germany, assignors to Firma Fr. Hesser, Maschinenfabrik Aktiengesellschaft, Stuttgart Bad Cannstatt, Germany, a corporation of Germany Original application Apr. 12, 1955, Ser. No. 500,954. Divided and this application June 3, 1957, Ser. No. 664,876

Claims priority, application Germany Apr. 17, 1954 S Claims. (Cl. 242-58.@

This application is a division of our copending application, Serial No. 500,954, tiled April 12, 1955.

This invention relates to a method and device for continuously feeding a web of cardboard, paper or similar material from supply rolls and in particular for continuously feeding a cardboard web in the operation of cardbox Working machines, such as rotary printing machines. In machines of this kind the cardboard web is supplied in form of rolls which have to be unrolled uniformly and substantially at the speed of operation of a machine with which it is to be used, such as a printing machine. In order to assure continued operation of the machine without interruption during changing of rolls, i.e. when a completely unrolled roll has to be replaced by a new one, the running off web is connected with the leading end of the new roll thus providing an uninterrupted web.

When working with paper webs it yis usual to join the ends of webs simply by sticking the leading end of the new web to the running off web. There are also known various devices effecting this joining operation with the machine running, the paper rolls being mounted in this case on spider or star type wheels to which an angular movement is imparted for each roll changing operation.

This known method of joining two webs, however, cannot be applied when working with cardboard webs of more or less considerable thickness since sticking the web ends in overlapping relation would increase too much lthe thickness of the web at the junction so that it could not be drawn through, for instance, between closely approached printing cylinders of a rotary printing machine. Taking into account this circumstance it has become common practice to place manually the trailing end of the run off cardboard web in abutting relation with the leading end of the new web with the machine being at a standstill and to join the ends by means of a gummed tape. It is obvious that this manner of joining the ends of cardboard webs is comparatively time consuming and implies the disadvantage that the machine has to be stopped for changing of rolls.

A further disadvantage results from the use of the usual spider or star type wheels which not only are very bulky but also require considerable forces for pivoting the heavy rolls.

The primary object of the invention is to eliminate these drawbacks and to provide a cardboard feeding device for continuously feeding a cardboard web to a cardbox working machine at a speed which is strictly in conformity with the speed of operation of this machine without it being necessary to stop it when the rolls have to be changed.

For this purpose the feeding device according to the invention is provided with a novel hydraulically operable r"ice roll raising and pivotin-g unit capable of raising the cardboard rolls and moving them out of the path of the cardboard web after having been unrolled. The feeding device is further provided with a sticking unit the functions of which are to cause the running off web to be cut off obliquely during the operation of the machine, to advance the leading end of the new roll likewise obliquely cut 0E towards the end of the running off web and to join the ends of both webs by means of a plurality of gummed tapes extending in the longitudinal direction of the web. The oblique cut is particularly advantageous with rotary printing machines since when the two web ends are not in closely abutting relation no lowering of the printing cylinders and consequently no misalignment of the register will occur.

In order to permit controlling of the feeding speed of the cardboard web and to tune this speed to the speed of operation of the printing or other machine, according to a further feature of the invention a loop is formed in the cardboard web at the eXit end of the feeding device by means of a movably arranged cylinder, the length of this loop being picked up by means of electronoptical scanning device comprising two photocells or the like. This scanning device controls in a manner known as such by means of a control gear unit the advancing speed of the cardboard web.

One embodiment of the invention as applied to a rotary printing machine is shown by way of example the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figs. l and 2 show the manner in which two cardboard web ends are joined;

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal View of the entire feeding device;

Fig. 4 is a plan View of the same device and Fig. 5 shows in an enlarged scale the sticking unit of the feeding device.

As shown in Figs. 3 and 4, the cardboard web feeding device of the present invention comprises a roll raising and changing unit A, an automatic sticking unit B, and a control and braking unit C.

Roll raising and changing unit A When putting the machine into operation a cardboard roll l is rolled between a correspondingly recessed machine base plate 2 and urged against an abutment 3 capable of being adjusted to different roll diameters and hydraulically, or if desired, mechanically lifted olf the bottom by means of a lifting unit 4, shown in Fig. 3, which is mounted on the left-hand and right-hand side of the base plate and engages a shaft 5. First, the cardboard web Il is inserted manually into the rotary printing machine by passing it over corresponding guide, deection and conveying cylinders in the sections B and C of the feeding device. Exact lateral adjustment is elected by turning a spindle 6 by means of a hand wheel 7 and a key type disc 8 which latter is in mesh with a counter disc 9 rigidly secured to the shaft 5. Now an endless belt 10 is placed on the cardboard roll 1 by lowering a webbing carrier 11 by means of a positioning motor 12. The belt 10 runs about pulleys 71, 76 and 77 of which the two latter are mounted on the belt carrier 11. The pulley 71 is secured to the drive shaft 70 of a control gear unit 69 thus acting as a drive pulley for the belt.

After these preliminary operations have been effected the device can be put into action and the cardboard web drawn off the roll l. If by drawing off the web from the cardboard roll 1 the diameter of the latter has been reduced by approximately two thirds of its original diameter it will be moved upwards together with the shaft 5 into the position O without interrupting the web motion by means of'hydraulic raising units 13 arranged at pressure oil and additionally guided by posts 16. The raising units 13 are likewise hydraulically operable and pivotally mounted about joints 2G. For this purpose horizontally arranged cylinders 17 are provided the pis- Vtons 18 of which are pivotally connected by means of piston rods 19 with the lowest pressure o'il actuated cylinders of the'raising units 13. In their pivoting motion the raising units 13 are guided by means of antifriction bearings 21 attached to the guide posts 16 and capable of rolling in arcuate guide slots 22 of the machine frame 2. The lifting unit 4 and the raising units 13 Aas well as the pressure oil operated cylinders 17 of the pivoting unit are controlled by means of an electro-hydraulic control unit 23 of known type secured to the machine frame and preferably operable from a movably supported control desk or from a control panel 23a. The pressure oil is supplied by a suitable pressure pump and withdrawn from a container 24.

If the running off carboard roll is 1 is in its upper position O a new cardboard roll 1 can be inserted and lifted from the bottom by means of the lifting unit 4. The leading end of the cardboard web I is cut olf obliquely, as shown in Fig. l, and after forming a loop 25 inserted into the cardboard follow-up carriage 26 of the sticking unit B and moved until abutting against a stop member 27 whereupon it is clamped to the cardboard follow-up carriage 26, as shown in Fig. 5, by pressing down a lever 28 actuating a clamping jaw 78. Now the stop member 27 is lowered so that the leading end of the new web I is exposed.

In order to avoid that in case the lowering of the stop member 27 is omitted which might cause the stop member 27 to be seized and damaged by the cross cutter 32 upon advancing ythe cardboard follow-up carriage 26, a safety contact 29 is provided which prevents cutting-in of the sticking unit VB until the stop member 27 has been lowered.

Now the preliminary operations for sticking the lead- `ing end of the web I of the new cardboard roll 1 to the trailing end of the web II of the running olf roll 1 which latter web in the meantime has been further drawn off are now completed. When the old roll 1 is almost comoperation is initiated.

Sticking unit B First, the speed of the rotary printing machine is reduced i.e. diminished to the drawing-in speed. The sticking together of the webs I and II by means of the sticking unit B is controlled by means of a control shaft 3) making oneV complete revolution during each complete sticking operation. For this purpose a single revolution clutch 31 is provided which in a manner known as such is automatically disengaged after one complete revolution and engaged by means of a push button. Simultaneously with the engagement of the clutch 31 the cross cutting cylinders 32, the front drawing cylinders 33-33a, the gripper cylinders 34-34a, the rear drawing cylinders 35 --35a and the pressing cylinders 36-36a, 37-37a and 38`-38a, which in their -position of rest i.e. before eand after the changing of rolls are in a raised position, v'are brought'into engagement with each other by hydraulic -or electromagnetic units 39 of known type. The cross cutting cylinder 32 and the counterknife 40 are cutting the cardboard web II obliquely i.e. with a certain angle, preferably 75 (Fig. 2). `At the same time the cardboard follow-up carriage 26 in which the cardboard web I is clamped is advanced by means of a crank arm 41. This results in the cardboard web I being caused to follow very quickly the trailing end of web II and fed to the drawing cylinders 33-33a in such a manner that there will be no remarkable clearance between the webs I and II. Once the cardboard web I being seized by the drawing cylinders 33-33a the web I is automatically released due to the lever 28 engaging the abutment 42 which causes the clamping jaw 28 to be lifted from the carriage 26. The remainder of the web II is quickly removed manually or, if desired, by means of an electric motor mounted in the head of the pressure piston 14 so as to rotate `the roll 1 backwards and the belt 10 then immediately brought in lengagement w-ith the new roll 1, so that the latter is set in motion. In order to have sufcient time for this cycle of operation the loop in the web I is provided. Immediately after the single revolution clutch 31 having been engaged thejgrippers 43 on the gripper cylinders 3434a will seize the gummed tapes III and IIIa, which are cut into suitable lengths by vknives 44 and drawn` past the dampening devices 45 and thenrsticked 4from above and below to the ends of the webs II and I (Fig. l) with the drawing cylinders S31-33a and vL15-'35a continuing to move l@he webs without, however, applying a tension on them. Further pairs of cylinders 3 6--36a`, 37.37a and v38-38a press the gummed tapes III and IiIa to both faces of the cardboard webs thereby assuring ,an unobjectionable connection. The gummed tapesrIII and VIIIa are drawn olf from supply rolls 46 of which Vdepending on the width ofthe cardboard three to live may be provided on the axles VV47 yby the drawing cylinders 48-4Sa and 49-4A9a and, as already mentioned, cut oi by the knives 44 which are moved by means of a cam 79 through a'linkage 5l), the linkage 51B operating at the same time also the holding part or ymember 51 connected thereto.

After one revolution of the control shaft '39 the sticking operation is completed, the clutch 31'automatically disengaged and the cylinder pairs V52v to 38 simultaneously lifted again from the web in which position they remain until the next sticking operation. Thereupon the speed of the machineis againincreased to its normal operating speed. Th'eshaft 5 of the unrolled cardboard roll fis removed and the raising units 13 moved into their initial position and y'pivoted yback below the shaft 5 of 'the new roll "1. The 'same cycle of operation is repeated for the 4next sticking process.

Control and brake :mit C In operation the cardboard web is drawn oi the roll 1 by the continuously running drawing cylinder pairs 5252a and S34-53a from which latter vit is passed around a roll 55 which is guided for a free up and down motion within the guide member 54 (Fig. 3) thereby forming a loop 56 designated in the Yfollowing as a control loop. The braking and tensioning `of the cardboard web is effected on the one hand by means of a plate type brake 57 the braking action of which 'may be adjusted in a known manner by means of a weight 5S, and on the other lhand -by means of a brake cylinder 59 which too is driven in known manner with a corresponding' lag and the braking action of which is adjustable by means of a pressing cylinder 60. Passing the deflection shaft 61, the brushing unit 62 and the cardboard breaker 63 which is capable of being cut in or out by raising or lowering the cylinder 65 mounted in the arms 64 by means of the positioning motor 66, the cardboard web is fed towards the rotary printing machine.

The drive of the various units of the feeding device is effected from the main drive shaft 67 (Fig. 3) driving Y by means of the vertical intermediate shaft 68 the innitely variable gearing 69 from which again through the shaft 70 the belt 10 and through the shafts 74 and 7S the drawing cylinders 62 and 53 are driven. From the shaft 74 also the sticking unit B is driven during the sticking operation. The speed of the shafts 70, 74 and 75 which are driven through the gear unit 69 is controlled by means of the cardboard web control loop 56, already described, the length of which is picked up by means of an electron-optical unit 72 which may comprise two photocells 72a and 72b. These photocells 72a, 72b are connected through suitable relays to the positioning motor 73 of the gear unit 69 which positioning depending on the control loop becoming longer or shorter causes the speed of the drive shaft of the gear unit 69 to be retarded or accelerated thereby correspondingly controlling the drawing speed of the feeding device.

This manner of the controlling of the drawing speed as well as of the novel unit described for raising and pivoting the cardboard roll may, of course, also be applied to feeding devices for paper webs. The sticking of a new paper roll to the running oi web could be effected in this case in the manner already known and mentioned in the introductory part of this specification.

The feeding device of the present invention is further so designed that the automatic sticking unit may be omitted without alteration of the remaining machine parts of the device in cases there, e.g. with machines of reduced power, the use of such sticking units would not justify the cost.

Though in the present embodiment the roll raising and pivoting unit is actuated by push button control it may also be automatically controlled e.g. by picking up the running off cardboard roll l by means of electrical, electron-optical 0r mechanical scanning or feeler devices of known type in its diameter and position and actuating the raising and pivoting unit by means of corresponding relays.

What is claimed is:

1. Mechanism for feeding a web of cardboard paper or like material to a treating machine from a replaceable supply roll having a shaft, said mechanism comprising a frame, a base plate for said frame, lifting and supporting means mounted on said base plate for raising and rotatably supporting the supply roll in operative position during normal feeding oi of the web therefrom, and elevating means for raising the roll from said lifting and supporting means whereby a new supply roll may be positioned upon said lifting means, said elevating means comprising a pair of extensible piston and cylinder assemblies engageable with said shaft adjacent their upper ends and pivotally mounted at their lower ends upon said base plate.

2. Mechanism according to claim l wherein the piston and cylinder assemblies are swingable upon their pivots by further piston and cylinder assemblies whereby a roll carried thereby may be moved to a position remote from an additional roll newly mounted on said lifting and supporting means.

3. Mechanism according to claim l wherein said frame is provided with a pair of arcuate guideways, wherein a post is aixed to each of said first-mentioned piston and cylinder assemblies, and wherein each of said posts carries an antifriction bearing, said bearings each slidable in one of said guideways.

4. Mechanism according to claim 1 wherein an electrohydraulic push-button operated control unit is provided for controlling said lifting and suporting means and said elevating means.

5. Mechanism according to claim l wherein there is provided an endless belt mounted in said frame in contact with said supply roll for rotating the latter, a driving pulley for said belt carried by said frame, a variable-ratio transmission gear mounted on said frame and connected with said pulley, and a source of power for driving said gear.

6. Mechanism according to claim 5 further including drawing cylinders mounted in said frame for drawing the web from the supply roll and advancing it to the treating machine, said drawing cylinders being operatively connected to said transmission gear.

7. Mechanism according to claim 6 wherein means is provided posterior to said drawing cylinders for forming said web into a control loop, said loop varying in size in accordance with the respective speeds of said drawing cylinders and said treating machine, and wherein control means responsive to the size of said loop is provided for varying the gear ratio of said transmission gear.

8. Mechanism according to claim 7 wherein said loopforming means comprises a guide mounted on said frame and a roll movably mounted in said guide and bearing on said web.

References Cited in the rile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,042,919 Wood June 2, 1936 

